Earth Overshoot Day marks the date when humanity’s demand for ecological resources exceeds what Earth can regenerate in a given year. In 2025, that date is arriving on July 24th, eight days earlier than last year, a signal that we are moving further into ecological debt.

We will be speaking with Dr. David Lin, chief science officer of Global Footprint Network, who will explain how these dates are figured out. We'll talk about how to move that date back, too.

Many of the things that humanity takes from Earth are renewed. However, if corporations, governments, and individuals consume resources faster than they regenerate, we deplete them. Corporations are very successful in making the U.S., and indeed much of the rest of the world, a consumerist unsustainable society. Political policy goes along with that. It is a big part of why Earth Overshoot Day is earlier and earlier nearly every year.

“Overshoot is not just an environmental crisis — it is a social, economic, and generational one. It is driven by how many of us there are, how we consume, and the systems we uphold. In the 21st century, our second-biggest threat is overshoot itself. The biggest? Failing to act.”

“Because of the nature of physics, overshoot cannot last. It will end either by deliberate design or dumped-on disaster. It should not be too hard to choose which one is preferable, particularly in light of so many possible choices.” We'll discuss some of those choices: political, corporate, and individual, and what can be done to reduce the ecological footprint.

Earth has 30.1 billion acres of biocapacity. That's just under 4 acres per person. But humanity's ecological footprint is nearly double that, 7.3 acres per person. So humanity would need almost two Earths to not deplete faster than both Earths could regenerate. There has been an Earth Overshoot report every year since 1971, but the corporate decision-makers, the politicians they support, and most media are not paying attention to it, so many people are unaware, and that day is getting earlier and earlier almost every year.

It would take five Earths to supply the resources for the United States because of the wasteful way goods are made, services provided, and products disposed of, as well as the consumerist American culture.

We open the show with news: a report-back on the July 16th NRC hearing, a rant about tap water spam, and plastic from cactus.

The music is “The Seed” by Norwegian singer-songwriter Aurora, reccomended by Kristin, a young neighbor of Ken's. Yay to friends of Eco-Logic.

Tune in on radio or internet to get more details.

And
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Ken Gale, Donna Stein, Sally Gellert, and Charlie Olson/TheEnvironmentTV

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